Education minister Ashok Choudhary will embark on a three-day padayatra (foot march) from Seemanchal on July 17 to raise awareness about the educational measures taken by the government.

He said he would visit schools in Katihar, Purnea and Kishanganj.

"Students and their parents must know about the various schemes launched by the government but owing to lack of awareness, people are not getting the benefits of such schemes," the minister said.

Education department sources, however, said the move is intended to instil confidence in people about the functioning of the education department in the aftermath of the Intermediate topper scam.

Volunteers from Talimi Markaz and Tola Sevak - who work to create education awareness among people from economically and socially deprived sections of society - will assist the minister in the campaign.

"Through the padayatra, we will have an opportunity to interact with students to know about the actual quality of education and infrastructure facilities available at schools," Choudhary said.

The topper scam is not the only recent blow to the education department. The high rate of failure in this year's matriculation and Intermediate results has also exposed the actual quality of education being imparted in the state. In the matriculation examinations, around 54 per cent of students failed while the figure was around 34 per cent in the Intermediate results. The drop in pass percentage was mainly due to strict measures by the department in checking unfair means.

Keshav Kumar, a government school teacher from Motihari, said the padayatra will not help in providing quality education. Keshav, who is also a secretary in the Bihar Panchayat Nagar Prambhik Siksha Sangh, said: "How can an education minister bring educational awareness among people in the entire state by visiting a handful of schools?"